Sweeter the second time: Ars reviews Assassin’s Creed 2

Assassin's Creed 2 is a shining example of a sequel, fixing its predecessor's …

2007's Assassin's Creed was a divisive game. While it was full of ambition and great ideas, it ultimately boiled down to a fairly repetitive experience with plenty of potential but even more gameplay "issues." For the the sequel, the team at Ubisoft Montreal attempted to fix those mistakes, building upon the solid foundation of the original—and it worked. AC2 is the game we all wanted Assassin's Creed to be two years ago.

The game takes place shortly after the original, and following a brief sequence in the modern day, Desmond is once again thrust into the past. This time it's 15th century Italy, three centuries after the first game. The story takes place from the perspective of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young nobleman from a rich family who spends his time and money on women and wine.

Soon, though, Ezio is forced out of his fast-living lifestyle as he takes up the role of assassin in order to exact revenge for his family. The story itself is epic in scope—jumping forward years at a time at different points throughout the game—and it's surprisingly easy to follow for those who missed out on the first game. Aside from a few modern day sequences and references to the past, AC2 does a good job of standing on its own in a narrative sense.

What makes the story truly interesting, though, are the characters. For the most part the plot is straightforward, filled with plenty of mysteries and a seemingly unending supply of targets for Ezio's hidden blade. But the mix of fictional characters and real-world historical figures really helps bring the Renaissance world to life and turn what could have been a fairly bland story into something interesting.

Just be sure to turn on the subtitles, as a fair amount of dialog is spoken in Italian.

Since you start following the memories of Ezio from a relatively young age, this provides a narrative explanation for one of the better aspects of the game: you are constantly learning new abilities. Untrained as an assassin, Ezio learns as the game progresses, and so does the player (and Desmond, apparently). And these new skills are many; you'll learn new skills for most of the game, ranging from new assassinations to improved climbing abilities.

Many of the new skills you learn are also tied to new weapons and gadgets, provided by none other than Leonardo da Vinci. These run the gamut from flash bombs to a miniature pistol to a rudimentary—and very cool—flying machine. What's disappointing, though, is that as interesting as some of these gadgets are, there is really no need to use them outside of one or two missions. In most cases it's easier to simply use your trusted assortment of blades.

Which brings us to the combat. The first game was heavily criticized for its bland and repetitive fighting system. AC2 attempts to remedy this by adding depth to the gameplay, allowing players to counter and use timing-based attacks to their advantage. It also offers the ability to pick up the weapons of fallen enemies and use them in combat.

What's most disappointing about the upgraded combat is that it's not necessary for the best. While it certainly makes things easier if you're playing more skillfully and waiting for the right time to strike, spamming the attack button will often work just as well. This is especially true when you're stuck battling a large group of enemies, which can happen far too often.

The free-running has also been improved this time around. Climbing feels less automatic, and, though you'll occasionally dive into a bale of hay unintentionally, the controls are fairly intuitive. And there is just something truly satisfying about running across the rooftops of Venice, watching the beautifully rendered, sun-drenched world of late medieval Italy pass you by.

It's also important to note that AC2 is a huge game. Like, really, really big. The main storyline is substantial enough—lasting approximately 15 hours if you barrel straight through it—but there is so much extra content that it's almost overwhelming at times. There is a bevy of side-missions to complete, but the game also features extras like a fully-functioning economy. You are given a small villa to renovate, and you can earn money and gain access to cheaper goods by doing so.

Most interesting is a segment of the game called The Truth. Scattered throughout the world are numerous strange symbols, which can be deciphered by solving various, sometimes difficult, puzzles. Each symbol unlocks a brief video sequence, which, when strung together, help provide further detail to the story.

The game also features a ton of back story, allowing you to read up on most of the important characters and locations, helping to further flesh out the world.

It took this many people to make Assassin's Creed 2.

And that's probably AC2's greatest strength. It can appeal to both to the sort of gamers who just want to make their way through the story as quickly as possible, and the kind who like to take things slowly, savoring the experience. Both will be satisfied. Of course there are other minor nitpicky issues—the present-day segments are boring, some of the NPC AI can be frustrating, the larger-scale battles look and feel awkward, etc.—but they don't take away from the overall experience in any drastic way.

Assassin's Creed 2 is a massive game, created by a massive team, and weighed down by some massive expectations. Fortunately, it lives up to the potential created by its predecessor, delivering possibly the best third-person action game of the year.